This page is for the Android operating system, for other uses, see Android (disambiguation)

Android is a mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel.[2] It was initially developed by Google and later the Open Handset Alliance.[3] It allows developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.[4]

The unveiling of the Android platform on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 48 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[5][6] Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free-software and open source license.[7]

In July 2005, Google acquired Android, Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, California, USA.[8] Android's co-founders who went to work at Google included Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger[9]), Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.[10]), Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile[11]), and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV[12]). At the time, little was known about the functions of Android, Inc. other than that they made software for mobile phones.[8] This began rumors that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market, although it was unclear what function it might perform in that market.[citation needed]